Accuracy Test
At Adept Mobile Robots in Amherst, New Hampshire I tested the accuracy of the Pioneer P3-Dx robot platform. This is a very robust robot that has a computer, sonar and laser rangefinder. On the first day, with the help of an employee, I was able to get the pioneer up and running and create a 2d map of the office within hours using their program Mapper3. The map can be seen below.
The next day I tested the accuracy of the mapping program through a series of tests. I began by placing a straight piece of tape on the ground and lined the robot to be centered on one end. Then I picked a location on the map and told the robot to go to that point at a ninety-degree angle. Once the robot made it from my work area to the location, I made marks by each tire with duct tape. Within the taped area, I found the center mark of the robot’s location by using a ruler. The next ten trials I had the robot wander first then I commanded the robot to drive to the first location. I measured the distance the robot ended up relative to the first location. The last five trials I lined up the robot a couple feet before the goal point and then told the robot to drive to the goal point.
I found that the robot had a difficult time reaching the goal point when it wandered first, but was very successful when it started only a couple feet away. I recorded my findings and delivered it to the employee, who will use it to make improvements to the software. Overall, I found the Pioneer P3-Dx to be a fabulous robot platform, with the Mobile Eyes program easy to start up and operate.